ANGELI MUTANTI

Reale Accademia Di Musica were formed in 1972, releasing two albums before breaking up. Apparently a version of the band then released more albums, but according to the press release they were unauthorised and it is this version of the band which is the official one. If that isn't confusing enough, only singer/guitarist Pericle Sponzilli is from the original line-up, and he lasted just for the debut album where he only provided guitar. So, if I have it right, this is a group using the same name as a band which released a couple of albums some 35 years ago, but with just one musician from back then. All of that is quite a distraction from what is actually a really interesting album, no matter what the name is on the cover.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a band claiming to have its roots from that era, what we have here is classic Seventies Italian style progressive rock, with some wonderfully dated keyboards in particular. Pericle has a solid voice, as opposed to spectacular, but it works very well with the often laid back style and timbre of the music. However, by also utilising the vocal talents of Erika Savastan they have allowed the mild and lower male timbre to contrast against the more alto female. Where they allow themselves to really slow it down and act as a full duet against some delightful mellotron of Fabio Liberatori, as on "Johnny e Adele" then it really is a delight. There are some incredibly enjoyable songs on here, and while not earth shattering, is an album that any of fan of Seventies progressive rock will surely get a great deal from. All the lyrics are in Italian, yet for me that just added to the overall feel of the music.